Deir-El Medina with Archaeologcal Evidence
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- Category: History
- Date Submitted: 08/07/2010 02:04 AM
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The ancient village of Deir-El Medina is one of the most important and informative archaeological sites ever found. The artefacts from within the village and the surrounding tombs give a great insight into the lives of the royal workers who lived there, including information on the role of women, the villagers occupations, their housing and furniture and their leisure and education. Many historians, such as Lesko and Bellenger, have dedicated their time to researching the information provided by this magnificent site.
The women of Deir el Medina played a significant part in the running of the village. They had several roles and were well respected. The main role of women in the village was to look after the family home. In this role they were entrusted to cook, weave, brew beer and trade. One source, a letter from a village scribe Butehamon to his dead wife shows that women were also given harder tasks such as bringing in the cattle and attending the fields. The Instructions of Ani, an Egyptian sage, warns husbands not to interfere with their wives running of the home--“Do not control your wife in her house, when you know she is efficient”. Another role played by women is described by Gail Bellenger (2006) who writes, “ Many women were involved in religious activities in the nearby temples and may have been priestesses”. Some of the ostraca found in the village were addressed to women, suggesting that they are able to read. On these ostraca husbands would often request tasks of them such as bringing them extra food or writings tools. For those women without a husband the role they played was that of an entertainer or perhaps prostitute. A sketch of an unidentified female on an ostracan shows her bending over backwards, naked from the waist up. This is vastly different from the married women depicted on tomb walls standing dutifully behind their husbands in long white robes. It is clear that women played varied roles within the village, but were vital to its...
The women of Deir el Medina played a significant part in the running of the village. They had several roles and were well respected. The main role of women in the village was to look after the family home. In this role they were entrusted to cook, weave, brew beer and trade. One source, a letter from a village scribe Butehamon to his dead wife shows that women were also given harder tasks such as bringing in the cattle and attending the fields. The Instructions of Ani, an Egyptian sage, warns husbands not to interfere with their wives running of the home--“Do not control your wife in her house, when you know she is efficient”. Another role played by women is described by Gail Bellenger (2006) who writes, “ Many women were involved in religious activities in the nearby temples and may have been priestesses”. Some of the ostraca found in the village were addressed to women, suggesting that they are able to read. On these ostraca husbands would often request tasks of them such as bringing them extra food or writings tools. For those women without a husband the role they played was that of an entertainer or perhaps prostitute. A sketch of an unidentified female on an ostracan shows her bending over backwards, naked from the waist up. This is vastly different from the married women depicted on tomb walls standing dutifully behind their husbands in long white robes. It is clear that women played varied roles within the village, but were vital to its...